Years ago, I found myself sitting in law school in Moot Court wearing an oversized itchy blue suit. It was a horrible experience. In a desperate attempt to avoid anything like that in the future I enrolled in a tax course. I loved it. I signed up for another. Before I knew it, in addition to my JD, I had a LL.M Taxation. I needed only to don my cape…. taxgirl® was born. Today, I live and work in Philadelphia, PA, one of the best cities in the world (I can't even complain about the sports teams these days). I landed in the City of Brotherly Love by way of Temple University School of Law. While at law school, I interned at the estates attorney division of the IRS. At IRS, I participated in the review and audit of federal estate tax returns. I even took the lead on a successful audit. At audit, opposing counsel read my report, looked at his file and said, “Gentlemen, she’s exactly right.” I nearly fainted. It was a short jump from there to practicing, teaching, writing and breathing tax.

Back To School: Moving On After Graduation

(UPDATE: The giveaway is now closed. We have a winner! See the comments for more info.)

It’s Back To School Week on the blog!

Hands down, one of the most exciting parts of going away to college is moving into your own space. As much as you know you’re going to miss mom’s cooking – and heck, even sharing a small bathroom with your siblings – there’s something incredibly liberating about throwing your worldly possessions into a car and moving them across the country (or even just across town).

But is it deductible?

Nope. You can only deduct moving expenses which are work-related. As much as college may feel like a job (well, for some of us anyway), the Internal Revenue Service take a different position. Moving for college is considered to be a personal expense and is not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

But what about moving out of college? Or out of mom’s basement to start a new job? If you’re moving for work, you may be able to deduct your moving expenses.

To qualify, you have to meet three criteria:

The move must be “closely related” to the start of a new job. As a general rule, a move that happens within a year of reporting to your new job would qualify as timely for purposes of the deduction.

The move must meet the distance test. If your new job location is at least 50 miles farther from your former home than your old job location was from your former home, you meet the test. For purposes of this test, you must use the shortest commonly traveled distance between the two points. Additionally, if you go to work full time for the first time, your place of work must be at least 50 miles from your former home to meet the distance test.

The move must meet the time test. The rules for this one are different, depending on whether you are an employee or if you are self-employed:

If you are an employee, you must work full time as an employee for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months after you arrive in the general area of your new job location. The work doesn’t have to be for the same employer, nor must the 39 weeks be consecutive.

If you are self-employed, the rules are a bit more tricky. Not only do you have to meet the 39 week test, you have to double it: you must work full time for at least 78 weeks during the first 24 months after you arrive at your new location. You are considered self-employed if you work as the sole owner of an unincorporated business or as a partner in a partnership carrying on a business. But careful: for purposes of calculating moving expenses, you are not considered self-employed if you are a part-time student.

If you meet the criteria, you can deduct the reasonable expenses of moving your stuff (household goods, clothes, furniture, car and the like) as well as the cost of your own travel – that includes lodging but not meals. And if you’re just starting out in your new space and you want to bring along your faithful furry (or scaly or slimy) best friend with you, the cost of shipping your pet is deductible, too.

Reasonable moving expenses do not include expenses to find a new home or storage charges (unless they happen en route to your new home). And newbies beware: if you were offered a package which includes reimbursements for moving expenses, you can’t include those amounts in figuring the deduction.

The best part? You don’t have to itemize to take the deduction – a plus for those of you who might not be homeowners and taking the home mortgage interest deduction (that tends to push taxpayers into the itemizing category). Moving expenses are an adjustment to income and not a Schedule A deduction.

Keep in mind that these rules really focus on young adults, including students and those just starting out. There are other exceptions to the rules which exist for semi-retired folks, military personnel and those of us who have been around the ol’ neighborhood block before. If you’re looking for those rules, check out this prior post.

This image is titled “New York Window” and is one of the many, many available prints great for college dorm room décor available on AllPosters.com.

And that brings us to today’s giveaway! AllPosters.com is offering one lucky reader a $500 “shopping spree” to AllPosters.com to fulfill all your college (and post college) décor needs.

AllPosters.com is the leading online destination for quality posters and more – offering everything an incoming student needs to personalize their college dorm. With the best selections of posters and art prints in the world, AllPosters.com offers hundreds of thousands of posters and art prints, which can be custom framed and mounted to meet your personal décor style. Additional college-must haves available on AllPosters.com include college flags, t-shirts, lunch boxes, college sports and pop culture posters, and many other novelty items – so you can head off to college with a decked-out dorm and all the essentials you need at a range of prices.

To enter to win, just post a comment telling me the one thing (no people!) that you’d never move without. I’ll go first to get you started: A tiny little Madeline figurine. The first time that I ever traveled for work without my daughter, she gave it to me so that I wouldn’t forget her. I carry it everywhere.

Entries must be posted in the comments section for this blog post in the space below by 5:00 p.m. EST on September 11, 2013. It’s just that easy. I’ll choose the winner randomly (using a number generator) out of all of the qualifying entries.

Be sure and read the fine print for more rules because, as you know, I’m a lawyer and I like rules:

Don’t panic if your comment doesn’t show immediately. If it goes to moderation because, for example, you’re new here, the time stamp on your comment is what counts. If you have difficulty registering, please send an email to blogadmin@forbes.com and copy me (tech@taxgirl.com) so that I can help if I need to/can.

I love my Twitter followers and my FacebookFacebook fans but for this particular giveaway, tweets and Facebook comments will not be counted. Ditto for emails. You must leave your comment on the blog at this post.

You can enter as many times as you like but you must leave a different answer each time you comment.

Offensive comments or comments that otherwise violate the comment policy will be deleted and will not be considered valid for purposes of the contest. Similarly, pingbacks and other links will be disregarded for purposes of the contest.

You must include your full name and your email address with your entry, just enter it when you register to comment. I won’t publish your email address but I do need contact information for the winning entry.

Due to shipping considerations, only United States addresses, please. Sorry, Canada, eh?

I respect your privacy and I will not send you anything unrelated to your entry in this contest. By entering the contest, you agree that I may post any part or all of your submission including your name as a part of the contest announcements or promotions, with the exception of your email address.

Like Judge Judy, my determination is final.

Prizes are provided directly by our sponsors. Sponsors do not pay for placement and do not receive any compensation for contributions – neither do I! I have no affiliation, paid or otherwise, with any of our sponsors.

Finally, the giveaway is about me, me, me. It’s not affiliated with or endorsed by Forbes. So leave them out of it, okay?

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My daughter’s “princess bed” (canopy bed). I always wanted on when I was little and was determined to get her one. I came across a used one for $35! She’s only 4 but one day perhaps I will have a princess guest room! :)

My Virgin Mary statue. I’m not a practicing Catholic anymore, but my grandmother bought her daughters and granddaughters a small statue for her bedroom. My mom still has hers. Mine is in my dining room.

When I was a kid we moved a lot, and I wouldn’t let anyone touch my records. I moved them myself to make sure they got from point A to point B. Now, with Ipods and digital record collections, that really isn’t a problem anymore.

I would not move without a good book to keep me company. At the moment, this book would be “Fall of Giants” by Ken Follet, but of course there are many others. Moving is all about waiting to arrive at your destination, and once you’re there, trying to calm yourself as you look at a room of boxes that you do NOT want to deal with. A book can help to escape from all that.

box of grouped family photos – instrumental in raising younger siblings + kids, stepkids, nephews & nieces. . no one else very good at saving photos, keepsakes, etc.. so I tried to keep something for everyone.. when there is a big achievement, or graduation, wedding, significant birthday, illness (especially terminal); I pack up items relevant to that person and head there early (if possible) and go through report cards, letters, photos, awards, etc.. and give all to them if old enough to appreciate the tradition and sentimental value.. . . with such a large family, has come in very handy for the youngest generations who were ‘victims’ of divorces, multiple subsequent marriages, moving away from childhood ‘best friend’ cousins, etc.. I have kept these 2 boxes with me everywhere I’ve ended up over the past 40+ years!